This invention relates to a coupon strip capable of being distributed in bulk, for example, by direct mailing to consumers, and deals more particularly with a carry card presenting offers for cash discounts to consumers in a discernable manner on a strip capable of being folded in such a manner as to take on a business card or a passport-size shape for easy holding by the user.
Coupons distributed through mass mailing efforts offering cash discounts on products and services by particular vendors to consumers often involve stuffing numerous coupons into envelopes for each mailing. The envelopes and the many coupons enclosed in the envelopes, once received by the consumer in the mailer, are often inadvertently discarded or lost given that they are not usually bound to one another. In response to this, U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,964 issued on Mar. 8, 1977 discloses a printed coupon folder in which the coupons are detachably connected to one another and are arranged end-to-end in a string which are separated by perforation lines. However, the coupons arranged in this end-to-end manner are folded in a zig-zag manner so as to constitute a package which is bulky and which is ultimately subject to the same drawbacks experienced by the bulk mailing where separate coupon sheets are enclosed in a single envelope. That is, even though the coupons in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,963 are originally attached to one another in an end-to-end manner, it is conceivable that individual ones of the coupons will not be used in a sequential order, starting from the ends and working inwardly. Rather, it is more probable that the coupons will become detached intermediate the ends of the strip during use thereby resulting in the strip becoming segmented and parts of these segments being easily lost or discarded. It should be understood that hitherto it was necessary to detach the coupons from the strip because prospective customers had a one-time use for them since they had to be redeemed at the offerers place of business. Also, since carrying around a package of coupons was often bulky and prohibitive in some instances, it is desirous to hold the coupons in a manner which permits them to be easily carried by the consumer as would be done with a credit card or a license in a wallet, for example.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a coupon offer strip which is foldable on itself while yet remaining relatively thin so as to take on the shape of a credit card or other shapes which are specifically sized for known carriers, such as a wallet or a passport holder.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a convenient carrying card of a compact size having multiple reusable offers and which eliminate cutting and sorting of associated coupons heretofore known.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a carrier card of the aforementioned type which is capable of being distributed in bulk by direct mailing to consumers.